CH 114

[Oni of the Rebellion]

“Uguoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

――SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSHHHH!

Following Canaan’s roar, the metal appendages on his back opened, and many numbers of condensed black energy orbs tore through the sky.

They tracked us like they had their own wills but,

““Grand Phalanx Blow!!””

“—!?”

――BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!

All of them were repelled by our ‘Superior Arms’-enhanced highest level Combat Art.

“Wow… so this is the power of ‘Superior Arms’…” Zana exclaimed, seemingly stunned by the scene.

I nodded to her, “Yeah, that’s right. This is Superior Arms’—no, our power.”

“Fufu, I see. I think I can understand how Arcadia was feeling now.”

“Huh?”

“I mean, we are currently one in the truest sense. As one of your wives, wouldn’t it be natural to be jealous of Tirna who got to experience it first? Not to mention, Arcadia was the first one to be your wife.”

“W-well, uhh… I can only say I’m sorry…”

As I was scratching my cheek with an awkward look on my face, Zana laughed and said, “You don’t have to apologize. Yes, I’m a little jealous, but I’m a firm believer of the saying—everything happens for a reason.”

“…You’re right. Thanks, Zana.”

“No problem. But yeah, I really am a little jealous, so in exchange, can I ask you to beat up that scary guy who’s been releasing his killing intent for a while now?”

When I followed Zana’s line of sight, I found Canaan, who’d had his earlier attack completely blocked, glaring at us with an indignant expression.

“With pleasure. Then I’ll be borrowing your power!”

“Yeah! Take as much as you want!”

“Gugaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”

――SWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSHHHH!

To Canaan, who’d fired another round of orbs again,

““Grand Full Phalanx Blow!!””

We responded with also another full-powered attack.

◇ ◇

—Meanwhile—

“Gugyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?”

——Belchk!

There was a person who gouged out the heart of a monster lying down powerlessly on the ground and devoured it.

A demi-human with two horns growing out of his forehead—Elysium.

Having made his escape safely from the saints who were corroded by the Sacred Treasures at the sacred mountain Falgara, he’d been moving west while slaughtering and eating the heart of every strong monster he encountered along his way.

Why’d he, the ‘Sword’ Saint, do such a thing?

The reason for that was the ‘black bruise’ carved on his chest.

――Yes, it was a scar left after he’d gotten stabbed by Goddess Phinis.

Elysium was trying to conquer the curse-like bruise that still remained even after his wound was closed in a unique way.

“Hmm, it seems the monster just now stored quite a lot of power,” Elysium muttered quietly to himself, watching the bruise on his chest get smaller.

This bruise was a curse that killed everything except Phinis’s children.

In that case, considering that monsters were her children, it stood to reason that the more monsters one took in, the closer one would to dispel the curse.

With that line of thought, Elysium had been directly eating monsters’ hearts, the organ in which ‘filth’ was most condensed, and absorbing their power this whole time.

He’d never thought that Vale’s research would be of help to him in this way, but with this method, Elysium would be able to return to the battlefield again.

His comrades were no longer with him, neither was the power of god that was the ‘Sacred Treasure’.

However, Elysium still had a strong will and body which Vale did not have.

The best proof was the fact that he could take in the ‘filth’ in the hearts of monsters that supposedly could only be taken it after it had been extracted and diluted.

――Fwoosh!

“Hou, a pretty good sword. It should be able to easily cut apart the scales of a flying dragon even,” He assessed, looking at his right arm that had gone through a change.

If I can absorb the powers of monsters, I should be able to absorb their creator the goddess’s power—no, even the goddess herself.

“Just you wait, Goddess Phinis. Your power—I’ll definitely devour it.”